The present invention relates to electronic price label (EPL) systems, and more specifically to a system and method of managing expired products.
EPL systems typically include a plurality of EPLs for merchandise items in a transaction establishment. EPLs typically display the price of corresponding merchandise items on store shelves and are typically attached to a rail or shelf channel along the leading edge of the shelves. A transaction establishment may contain thousands of EPLs to display the prices of the merchandise items. The EPLs are coupled to a central server from where information about the EPLs is typically maintained in an EPL data file. Price information displayed by the EPLs is obtained from a price look-up (PLU) data file.
RFID technology provides an alternative to bar code reader technology for distinguishing and recording items for purchase. Some of the uses of RFID technology are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,019,394 assigned to the assignee of the present invention. This patent is hereby incorporated by reference.
Store associates must perform routine tasks throughout the store and require information to support operation of the store. Inventory management is on routine task which can be labor intensive. Some items, such as perishable food items, carry expiration dates assigned by the manufacturer or packager of the items. Store associates must routinely track and remove expired items from shelves.
Therefore, it would be desirable to combine the communication capabilities of electronic price label systems with RFID technology in order to identify expired products.
In accordance with the teachings of the present invention, a system and method of managing expired products is provided.
The system includes a product label affixed to the time-sensitive product, an electronic price label system including an electronic price label and a product label interrogator controlled by the electronic price label which obtains the expiration information from the product label, and a computer which identifies the electronic price label as being associated with the product, causes the electronic price label to activate the product label interrogator to interrogate the product label, and receives the expiration information from the electronic price label. The computer may additionally compare the expiration information to current date information and cause the electronic price label to display a message indicating that the product has expired if the current date information is after expiration information.
It is accordingly an object of the present invention to provide a system and method of managing expired products.
It is another object of the present invention to use expiration date information stored in a product RFID label to identify expired products.
It is another object of the present invention to communicate expiration date information stored in a product RFID label through an electronic price label system.
It is another object of the present invention to communicate expiration date information stored in a product RFID label through an electronic price label system and display an xe2x80x9cexpiredxe2x80x9d sign on the electronic price label.